Happy Friday! Alternative New Music Friday #Happens with The Lumineers leading a big list of new albums out for Valentine’s Day. The Lumineers fifth album arrives on the heels of a just-announced Automatic 2025 World Tour and the band was on Jimmy Fallon last night. There are several other new albums out today for you to check out, including Capital Cities, Horsegirl, Mallrat, Saint Motel, Two Car Garage, The Velveteers, and The Wombats. Plus, David Kushner drops 20 Years From Now EP.

There’s a sweet Valentine’s Day concert tonight, celebrating 50 years of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Jimmy Fallon. The 3-hour SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York will stream live on NBC & Peacock at 5pm (PT)/8pm (PT). The lineup includes: Arcade Fire, The B-52’s, Brittany Howard, Chris Martin, David Byrne, Dave Grohl, DEVO, Eddie Vedder, Jack White, Jelly Roll, Mumford & Sons, and more.

Green Day, Noah Kahan & Fall Out Boy headline this year’s Oceans Calling Festival. Hozier, The Killers & The Lumineers are among the headliners for Summerfest. Check out who else is playing these festivals in Alternative Music Info. 

Happy 33rd Birthday to KXRK (X96)/Salt Lake City this weekend! Congrats to Todd Nuke’Em and the X96 team! Todd shared a clip on socials of him on-air from KJQN in 1991, just months before X96 was born. Listen to it HERE. 

I checked in with Mr. Nuke’Em to get the 411 on how X96 came to fruition after a mass-exit from KJQ. Todd, please tell us the story. Nuke’Em said, “At KJQ we had generated a faithful audience that was passionate about alternative music. The owners of KJQ were, we felt, mismanaging the station and it became clear to us that we had to move the format. Jim Facer, the KJQ sales manager at the time, basically sold everything he owned to finance the birth of X96. We were able to keep most of the original KJQ staff together for the launch of X96, and eventually brought the whole staff back. X96 still has the original morning show from KJQ (Radio From Hell with Kerry Jackson, Bill Allred, and Gina Barberi) along with Artie Fufkin, who was an intern at the beginning of X96. He now hosts mid-days. And I’m fortunate to be surrounded by the best air staff in broadcasting to keep X96 alive and well 33 years later! We owe our survival to being true to the brand that we built and to giving our loyal audience what they expect.”

Big Loud Rock adds Brooks Roach as SVP Of Marketing. Get the 411 on The Latest Alternative News. 

#HAPPENS 2025 Las Vegas is February 26-28. Hope to see you for 3 days of MUSIC.COMMUNITY.DISCOVERY. Find the schedule HERE. Registration HERE. Discount hotel rooms HERE. 

Dexter And The Moonrocks released a new single on Wednesday called “Ritalin” that is up on the DSPs. I have the video for you to check out along with new albums out today.

ALTERNATIVE NEW MUSIC DISCOVERY  

Dexter And The Moonrocks

“Ritalin”

(Severance/Big Loud Rock)

Abilene, TX 4-piece Dexter And The Moonrocks released their newest single “Ritalin” on Wednesday (2/12) via Severance/Big Loud Rock. The angsty, distorted guitar-driven single underlines the “grunge” tone within their fan-coined “Western Space Grunge” brand. It arrives with a medicating” lyric video highlighting the song’s very personal tale of despair and addiction. Watch it HERE. 

“Ritalin” follows the surprise success of the band’s live cover of Tyler Childers’ “Messed Up Kid,” which averaged 900,000 streams per week following its release last fall, with Whiskey Riff claiming the band proved that the song “was destined to be a rock song.” 

The band’s first radio single “Sad in Carolina” was #1 on the Alternative chart for 7 straight weeks at the end of last year. Last week, the band kicked off a spring tour with dates across the Southeast and Midwest with a run through the end of April followed by festival appearances at Lovin’ Life Music Festival and Welcome To Rockville. Find the tour dates HERE. 

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY

The Lumineers Release New Album And Announce Automatic World Tour

The Lumineers released their highly anticipated fifth album, Automatic, today via Dualtone. The band has also revealed a North American leg of their Automatic 2025 World Tour beginning July 3rd.

The new collection features 11 songs that were recorded in less than a month. It’s the Denver band’s most raw and personal release and marks 20 years of co-founders Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites writing together. 

Schultz says, “The album explores some of the absurdities of the modern world, like the increasingly blurry line between what’s real and what’s not, and the variety of ways we numb ourselves while trying to combat both boredom and overstimulation.” 

“People who think they have our number, they’ll be surprised,” says Fraites.  

Inspired by Peter Jackson’s 2021 Beatles documentary Get Back, the band, with the help of co-producers David Baron and Simone Felice. The record was recorded at Woodstock’s Utopia Studio. They used multiple set-ups – with two sets of drums, three different pianos, and an array of amps, guitars, and vocal mics. The process allowed the band to capture the raw and organic presentation on the new songs. 

The Lumineers Automatic World Tour will take them to stadiums, arenas, and amphitheaters across the US and Canada through mid-October. The band has a big list of special guests that will rotate on the tour, beginning with Hippo Campus, Young The Giant, St. Vincent, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Tom Odell, and more. Tickets go on sale to the general public next Friday, February 21 at 10am (local). Find the tour dates HERE.

In addition, The Lumineers will headline Extra Innings Festival (February 28), Summerfest (July 3-5), Bourbon & Beyond (September 11-14), and Iron Blossom Music Festival (September 20-21). 

Last night, The Lumineers performed “Same Old Song” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The lead single from Automatic is trending Top 5 on the Alternative chart. Watch the performance HERE.

MORE NEW ALBUMS OUT TODAY

Capital Cities – A Hurricane Of Frowns (Lazy Hooks)

Horsegirl – Phonetics On And On (Matador)

Mallrat – Light hit my face like a straight right (Nettwerk)

Saint Motel – Saint Motel & the symphony in the Sky (Elektra)

Two Car Garage – Peace & Love (Anotherland)

The Velveteers – A Million Knives (Easy Eye Sound)

The Wombats – Oh! The Ocean (AWAL)

MORE ALT ALBUMS HERE